Elections Enforcement staff: No $$$ for Ganim

Updated 8:32 pm, Wednesday, May 17, 2017

BRIDGEPORT — Want returned Mayor Joe Ganim to be eligible for state campaign cash, should he run for governor?

Or should his crimes from his first stint in City Hall keep that money out of Ganim’s hands?

Either way, this is your chance to be heard.

On Wednesday, staff for the state’s elections watchdog turned down Ganim’s request to lift a ban barring public officials convicted of crimes related to their office from participating in Connecticut’s Citizens’ Elections Program. Ganim served seven years in prison after being found guilty in 2003 of racketeering, extortion, bribery and other charges while first mayor.

“It certainly would be helpful for as many people to submit comments as they can,” Ganim said Wednesday afternoon, adding: “There’s a lot of smart lawyers out there who might say, ‘Hey, they missed the mark.’ Or people who feel this is a state where anybody and everybody has a second chance and (should not) be penalized for the rest of their life.”

The mayor said should the commission ultimately rule against him next month, he will likely take the matter to court.

Ganim was re-elected mayor in 2015 for four years, but is considering moving on to higher office. He recently launched an exploratory committee to consider succeeding fellow Democrat Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, who is not seeking a third term in 2018.

Campaign fundraising would be easier for Ganim if he could, under the 2005 Citizens’ Elections Program, agree to contribution and spending limits in exchange for state money. So early last month the mayor, through private attorney Arnold Skretta of Guilford, wrote the Elections Enforcement Commission challenging the ban on participation for felons like himself.

Wednesday’s draft decision states how the Citizens’ Elections Program was an effort to restore trust in government because of the convictions — or “repeated parades of corruption” — of Ganim, ex-state Treasurer Paul Silvester, ex-Gov. John G. Rowland and ex-Bridgeport state Sen. Ernest Newton.

The ban affecting Ganim was passed in 2013 because of Newton, who was convicted of public corruption in 2005 and, in 2012, mounted an unsuccessful bid to rejoin the General Assembly. Newton qualified for state campaign money that year — and then was subsequently convicted of breaking the law to get that grant. He remains free on appeal and plans to run for Bridgeport City Council.

Skretta has said there is no evidence the restrictions on felons were intended to be retroactive. He also argued the prohibition is unfair, overly punitive, illogical and a violation of the First Amendment (free speech) and the Due Process and Equal Protection clauses of the U.S. and Connecticut constitutions.

The draft decision points out that since the inception of the Citizens’ Elections Programs certain categories of candidates have been barred from participation — write-ins, candidates who change parties — and participation “is not a substantive right belonging to all potential candidates.”

The draft also notes that, while individuals like Ganim who served their time have their voting rights restored and can run for office in Connecticut, other states have placed stricter limits on felons and those limits have been upheld as constitutional.

“Although Connecticut does not follow the approach adopted in these other jurisdictions, it has, in passing (the ban), decided to start by not entrusting felons convicted of misuse of public office with public funds to obtain public office,” reads the draft.